


You Know in the End, I'll Always Be There

by oppressa



Category: New X-Men: Academy X, X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Alternate Reality, F/M, Girl Saves Boy, Romantic Friendship, Threats of Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-02
Updated: 2014-07-02
Packaged: 2018-02-07 00:41:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1878519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oppressa/pseuds/oppressa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kevin is imprisoned for crimes against mutantkind, Cessily breaks him out. Set in Prodigy's vision of the future from the Too Much Information arc.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Know in the End, I'll Always Be There

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write about a girl saving a boy for a while, and god I love Kevin and Cess. I also really like David, so sorry he's a bit evil here, but that's the way he goes in Dani's illusion to warn him about the consequences of expanding his powers.
> 
> Also the former students are all a bit older here, not 18 years older as in the canon AU but in their twenties I guess. David is not the President yet. Bishop was the leader of the XSE later on in this universe so he is just his normal canon age I think.

He dreams of his childhood sometimes, the point he wishes he never grew up past. While he sleeps it's real, he can smell the fields outside his grandma's house in rural Georgia, pleasant like a shot of Laurie's pheromones. He feels drained when he wakes and sees the needle mark adding to the others in his arm, realising he's still stuck in a freezing cold cell in Ryker's Island.

There's three people that come to take him out his prison. Human or mutant, he never sees their faces. They're protected from him by biohazard suits, like they're handling some kind of toxic waste. That makes him angry, but he can't complain if he's being moved elsewhere. He cannot imagine anything worse than what's been his home for the last couple of weeks. Although perhaps he never had much of an imagination, and what was there has been stripped away living in an enclosed, grey concrete space with only four walls to talk to.

The Attorney General's office is like paradise in comparison – warm, light, comfortable, although Lucas Bishop stands by the door with his hand rested on his sidearm. Kevin is shoved down and cuffed into a chair opposite David's and almost, almost bites something back at the people told to leave before he feels the softness of the leather seat beneath him and sinks into it automatically. Alleyne frowns, like he hasn't just been dragged out of jail and is somehow here to waste David's time.

“How d'you like Ryker's, Kevin?” He asks, leaning forward, resting his palms on the desk infront. Trying to look authoritative, probably. Yeah, yeah, he's got all the cards. Kevin doesn't give a shit.

“I don't feel my situation there's very fair.” His drawl has always made David wince, and he lays it on heavy just because.

“Do you think you deserve fair treatment? We've got you on several accounts of murder, attempted murder, and destruction of government property.”  
  
“I think I deserve _my rights_.”

“They're called human rights for a reason, Ford. You're not human.”

“Yeah well, neither are you. Or him.” He jerks his head at Bishop, unable to gesture with his hands. “You gonna throw him in Ryker's too? He's got a rap sheet longer than my –”

The gun comes up to touch his temple, and he loses track mid-flow, thoughts jarring. “Do continue.” Bishop growls. “I'd love an excuse to shoot your scrawny cracker ass.”

He takes a too-scared look at David, to see if he's actually going to let Bishop blow his head off, then and there. Alleyne shakes his head, and Bishop steps back, lowering the semi-auto. Kevin breathes again, but barely.

David doesn't need a weapon to threaten him. He just gets up, walks around the desk to stand above him and takes hold of Kevin's face in a gloved hand, thumb and forefingers pressing on opposite cheeks. He was strong, Kevin forgot that. He would always plant him face-first in the gym mat at school, although most of the others could too. Now David is more than strong. He's _powerful_.  
  
“Lucas is loyal to me. You're not. He kills who I tell him to kill. You're a bit...indiscriminate. Work it out.”

“Take those gloves off and touch me.” He spits, trying not to reveal he's lost, pretty much, that he feels totally overwhelmed by both of them together.

“I don't think so.” David gives him a light slap as he lets go. “I'd rather stick my hand in dogshit.”

He growls, like Bishop did a minute ago, tugging at the cuffs. “You think you're better'n me, just 'cause you can what, _remember_ shit real well? What kind of passive power is that? Shit, if I could get outta these, I'd kill you before your attack dog could stop me.”

“Wanna bet?” Bishop rumbles, and David struggles not to laugh.

“Then I think it's best we neutralised you for the good of mutantkind after all, Ford.”

He lifts his eyebrows, shifts forward in the chair. “You wanna do me the same as Josh and Sooraya, go ahead. Show everyone what a monster you are on public television again, whatever.”

“No.” David says. “I'm done making martyrs out of former classmates. No one's gonna know where you went, Kevin. Not like anyone cares anyway, except maybe Kincaid, but Noriko would fry her if she tried to find out.”

“Yeah, 'cause you're scared Cess could take you down any day.”

Alleyne sighs like there's no point talking to him any longer. He turns to Bishop. “He can wait out his last hours in the holding room. Get Tessa to take him there.”

Fucking _Sage_. She's the one that arrested him. He still has the bruises and the humiliation. He detests her so much he blocks out her hateful voice crackling on Bishop's radio, not aware of what's going on until he hears her talking about some 'security breach', and blinks, wondering what the fuck.

“We'll be there.” Bishop says in response to David's nod, and adjusts his gauntlets before gripping Kevin's wrist, like he's going to pull him up with the cuffs still attached to the armrests, yeah right.

“Leave him.” David says. “It's not like he can get out of that chair.”

Bishop bends his massive body to whisper in Kevin's ear, so close his breath probably fogs the rings in the cartilage. “If this is down to your terrorist friends, I'll make sure you get to see their bodies before you die.”

He leans away, twisting his mouth distastefully, and then he's alone, with the door sealed, restrained in the most expensive chair he's ever sat in with no way out. Fuck, this is bad. He has maybe fifteen minutes before they come back having killed whoever's responsible. He hopes to God it's not one of the others. He doesn't think any of them would come, but –

His eye catches this shimmer by the door of the room, like a silver puddle seeping underneath. He freaks at first as it travels towards him, 'cause he's forgotten a lot, but then it occurs to him the liquid is somehow metallic, stretching out, and when it reforms, he's staring at Cessily. The next moment, she's flung herself on him, since she doesn't have to be careful, she's the only one, almost, that's been able to touch him since when it started to matter.

“Oh, thank god.” She breathes. “I'm sorry, Kevin, so sorry, I wasn't there, you went off our radar, I didn't know –“

He's pretty sure he wasn't off Julian's radar, but also that she isn't lying. Either that or Keller told her to stay away, to let him stew, let him be _executed_ , and she disobeyed.

“They know you're here.” He tells her, urgently. “They went to see about a breach –”

“They were meant to.” She says, shortly. “Tag caused a distraction. He should be clear of here by now.”

Her fingers form picks to release the handcuffs, and once that's done his arms wrap automatically around her back. He hasn't seen her in nearly a year, hasn't been within this sort of physical proximity with anyone for that long, and so he tries to retain at least a little bit of distance emotionally though she's rescuing him from certain death, risked it herself to come for him. He finds it pretty much impossible, and swallows.

“You shouldn'ta come. You or Tag. I can look after myself.” It's a ridiculous assertion, given the metal bracelets now hanging uselessly from the arms of the chair, but she just crushes him tighter.

“ _Baby_.” He feels wet against his cheek that doesn't come from his eyes, realises she's crying.

“Hey.” He says. “Look.”

His necklace is a synthetic, braided leather string she gave him that he'd managed to keep on under the puke-orange shirt. He also, out of the few piercings he still keeps in his ears, wears a ball made of non-poisonous metal mercury, from her skin. He shows her both and she touches the keepsakes with her fingertips.

She strokes through his long, unwashed hair without wincing. “You didn't take them off.”

“Of course not. They're like my –” He stops, not wanting to admit he believes in talismans, all that. “I just mean, thanks for coming, Cess.”

She raises her eyebrow slightly, but she nods. Their faces are very close together.

“So...” he draws out, nuzzling her so she can tell he doesn't really want to stop holding her, but they have to move before they get caught. “Let's get going?”

“Oh, crap.” She says, sitting up. “You know what, I forgot something. Stay right here.”

Right, like he has a choice in the matter. She goes back under the door, and he's alone again for all of two endless minutes, throwing panicked glances at the clock above the cabinets. He's about ready to jump out of his cursed skin when the green light on this side of the door flashes and it fully opens, this time. Some security guard falls in, from her loosening grip, and again, he can't see the face through the helmet.

“Swiped his keycard.” She smiles triumphantly. “I'm not leaving here without _you_ , am I?”

**Author's Note:**

> Title from, oh god, When in Rome - The Promise.


End file.
